07/28/2026
Honoring the life of School of Aviation Trades/Aviation High School graduate, Azriel "Al" Blackman. Thank you for your service, Al.
The aviation community is mourning the loss of one of its greatest legends. Azriel "Al" Blackman, the world's longest-serving aircraft mechanic, has passed away at the age of 100, leaving behind a legacy that spanned more than 84 years of service to American Airlines.
Blackman's remarkable journey began on July 17, 1942, when he was just 16 years old. Fresh out of Aviation High School in Manhattan, he walked into a hangar at New York's LaGuardia Airport hoping to find a job. With his mother's permission, he was hired into the sheet metal shop for 50 cents an hour by American Export Airlines, the carrier that would later become American Airlines.
Back then, the airline flew Sikorsky flying boats from the waters of Flushing Bay. No one could have imagined that the teenager tying seaplanes to the dock would go on to witness, and help maintain nearly the entire evolution of modern commercial aviation.
Over the next eight decades, "Al" worked on more than 50 different aircraft types, from Sikorsky flying boats and elegant Lockheed Constellations, to the pioneering Boeing 707, the iconic Boeing 747, and finally the modern Boeing 777. Few people in aviation history have experienced such an extraordinary progression of aircraft firsthand.
In 2017, after an incredible 75 years on the job, Guinness World Records officially recognized him for the longest career as an airline mechanic. To honor the man who had devoted his life to keeping aircraft flying safely, American Airlines named a Boeing 777-200 (N751AN) after him, the first time the airline had ever dedicated an aircraft to a mechanic. To this day, maintenance crews affectionately refer to the jet as "7BK" in honor of Blackie.
Even in his 90s, Blackman refused to slow down. As a Crew Chief at JFK Airport, his shift officially started at 5:00 a.m., yet coworkers often found him arriving before 3:00 a.m., simply because he loved being around airplanes. His late wife, Dolores, would lovingly send him off each morning with the words: "Go to work, bum. Go play with your friends."
When people asked why he never retired, his answer never changed: "Why would I quit something I love doing?"
Or, as he often put it: "If you like what you do, it's not work."
Thank you, Al, for more than eight decades of keeping airplanes safe and for showing the world what true passion and commitment look like.
